Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont

Jeanne-Marie Leprince was born in Rouen, France, in 1711 and was educated at a convent school, where she later taught. After a brief, unhappy marriage to a man named Beaumont was annulled, she moved to London around 1748 and worked there for many years as a governess for the children of wealthy families. She began publishing works for the education of young people, especially girls, at a time when such books were rare. In 1756 she published Le Magasin des enfants, a book of dialogues between a governess and her pupils mixing lessons, Bible stories, history and fairy tales. Among them was her version of Beauty and the Beast, much shorter than an earlier novel-length version by Madame de Villeneuve. It tells of a merchant's kind youngest daughter who goes to live with a monstrous Beast to save her father, and whose love breaks the spell on him. Translated into English the following year, it became the form of the story most people know. She wrote some seventy books, returned to France, and died in 1780.

Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont is also an author in the library: author page and works.

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